Improvement in car-replacers



E. WILLARD.

Car-Beplacers,

Patented Sept. 1,1874.

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Fig.1.

Invent or THE GRAPHIC CQPHQYU-LITLBBiI PARK PLACEJLY.

' for the horses and the men in charge.

same or like difficulties often occur in getting UNITED STATES 1 PATENTOFFICE.

EPHRA'IM WILLARI), or Blosron, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN CAR-REPLACERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 154,572, datedSeptemberl, 1874 application filed February 11, 1874.

Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts,have-invented a new and useful Portable Railway-Switch, of which thefollowing,taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is aspecification I In running cars upon street-railways it very oftenbecomes necessary to run a car off from the track to pass around anobstruction that cannot be readily removed, and the want of a light,portable, and convenient implement always at hand, by the use of .whichthe wheel may be raised, so as to bring the edge of the flange above thetop of the rail, and at the same time direct the wheel obliquely acrossthe rail, has been the occasion of a great amount of trouble and seriousinconvenience to passengers, and a great deal of hard labor The the caronto the track when it has been accidentally or intentionally run offfrom the track.

To obviate or overcome these difficulties, and produce a light,portable, and convenient implement, which I term a portable switch, andwhich may be applied to the rail of a street-railway, for the purpose ofswitching a car off from the track when desired, or for switching it onagain when it has been thrown ofl' either intentionally or accidentally,is the object of my invention.

My invention consists of a light metal shoe having a convex ordouble-inclined upper surface, and a bottom surface constructed to fitinto the flat groove on the upper surface of the rail, above which rollsthe flange of the car-wheel, said upper inclined surface rising from thelevel of the bottom of said flat groove in the rail, and from either endof said shoe toward its center, at which point it rises above the railand projects over the tread thereof, and rests upon the same.

The upper surface of said shoe is also provided with a raised rib,extending in an oblique direction from the center toward either endthereof, in such a manner that the rib at or toward the ends of saidshoe shall be inside of the flange of the wheel, while at the center, orat the meeting point of the two oblique portions of said rib, it shallbe at a point much nearer to or over the tread of the rail, and, byvirtue of the obliquity of said rib, serve as a guide to direct thewheel across the rail as it rises to a level with or above the top ofthe tread portion thereof.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan of my portable switch as seenapplied to a rail of a street-railway. Fig. 2 is a transverse section ofthe rail, showing the portable switch in end elevation. Fig. 3 is anedge view of the portable switch removed from the rail, and Fig. 4is atransverse section on line as m on Fig. 3.

A is the body of the switch, the upper surface of which is curved orinclined in opposite directions from its center toward either end, asshown. The body A. is made of such a Width and form as to fit into andfill widthwise the shallow groove formed in the upper side of the rail.The curved or inclined upper surface of the switch A rises from thebottom of said groove in the rail from either end of the switch towardits middle, at which point it rises above the. level of the tread of therail, and extends over and rests upon said tread in the form of a lip orflange, B. O is a raised rib projecting upward from the upper face ofthe switch, each half of said rib upon either side of the center of saidswitch being placed at an angle to the rail in opposite directions, theends of said rib being so located as to be within the line of themovement of the flange of the wheel, while the central portionapproaches to or nearly to the inner line of the tread of the rail.

This implement, made of cast iron, from twelve to twenty inches inlength, and weighing but a few pounds, placed on board of a street-car,would be of great service in running a car 011' from the track, or inreplacing it on the track again, saving a great deal of valuable time,and very much relieving the burden of the horses that draw the cars atsuch times.

By virtue of its symmetrical form, both ends being alike, it may beapplied to either rail, when the car is moving in either direction, or

upon the inside or the outside of the rail, as liquely thereon in twodirections, substantially may 'be desired. as described.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure Executed at Boston,Massachusetts, this 6th by Letters Patent of the United States, isday ofFebruary, 187 4.

A portable switch consistingof a body, A, EPHRAIM WILLARD. having acurved or double-inclined upper sur- Witnesses: face, a projecting lipor flange, B, and a raised 'WM. P. EDWARDS,

rib, 0, upon said upper surface, arranged ob- N. G. LOMBARD.

